Impregnating apparatus.



B. G. VAUGHAN. 1

IMPREGNATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 19, 1913.

Patented Nov. 10, 1914.

B.` G. VAUGHAN.

IMPREGNATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 19, 1913.

1,1 1 6,649, Patentea Nov. 10, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I UNITED sTATEs i PATENT loam/CE BERNARD GEoaGnzvAUeHAm or Joiner, ILLmoIs,.AssIa1-ron:mo NATIONAL :linen ccnamuv'if,4 or JoLIEr, ILLINOIS, A ooaroaarron or mamme.' a

IMISREGNATING arpmrus.

Patented Noam, .1914.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Beit known that LBERNARD G.VAUGHAN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Joliet, Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful improvement in Impregnating Apparatuseso' which the followingl is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to apparatuses for.

' ilnpregnating match-splints and similar'.

articles with a liquid solution.

The main object of my'invention is to. pr o. vide an apparatusA that will automatically draw match-splints or, similar articles from, asouree lof Supply, immerse them in a solu tion so` as to impregnate them, and thereaf-l ter deliver them to` a drier or to the point where they are to be used or treated further.

Another object is to provide anI impregnating apparatus that comprises a conveyer. equippedv with carriers which travel through q a tank' that contains a solution, means for drawingarticles to be treated from a source of supply'and delivering them to saidcar riers, and means for-automatically remov ing the articles from said carriers when the; carriers reach a certain point 1n the path off travel'of'the conveyer, and separate the aru ticles which adhere to each other and .i ntroduce them into a conduit through which the articles travel to the point where they e Y L which intermittently1 discharges batches o1 A splints from the'vacuum chamber into a -90 are to be used or treated further.

Other objects and desirable features of: my invention will lbe hereinafter pointedi out.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a side eleva-v tional view of an apparatus constructed 1n'.

accordance with my inventionfor impregnating match-splints; Fig. 2 is a cross sectional View taken on the line 2-2 of Flg. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view; of the suction pipe through which thev splints are removed from the 'carriers of the conveyer; Fig. l 1s a vertical sectional view taken on the line fle-4 of Fig. 1; andy Fig.' `5 is a vertical sectional view ofthe vacuum' chamber into which the splints are drawn from the source of supp-ly and then delivered in batches into the carriersV of the conveyer.

Referrmg to the drawings1 which illustrate-the preferred form of my invention,- A designates an endless conveyer provided# sprocket-chains 3 that travel'over sprocket- 00 wheels 4, one pair of which are connected vto an shaftrovided apulley 5 around which a dr Ave belt 6 passes.` The carriersfl preferably consist of buckets having erforated bottoms 1'* that may be formed 'from wire screenlng, and: said buckets are provlded withrigid'side arms 7 that arev pivotally `connected at their upper endsto the sprocket-chains 3 of'the conveyor-- A stationary supportingstructure Bs provided with tracks 8`,l preferably formed rom angie-bars, as shown inFig. 25 over. which the sprocketfchains 3 travel so as to sustain the weight ofthe carriers 1 and thuspreventy the conveyer from sa-ging' intermedlate the pairs of sprocket-w eels'l at each end of the conveyer. The match-splints are drawn from a source of supply, not shown, throughva con-` duit'9 that leads into a vacuum -chamber Cillo Jromwhich the air is exhausted by a suction fan, not shown, that communicatesl with a pipe-1 0 which branches from the upper. end

of the vacuum chamber, said vacuum charnber being soidesigned that the splints l'that are sucked intosamethrough the conduit 9 wlll dropA downwardly into pockets `11 formed in a rotatable deliveringdevice D chute 12y arranged above the conveyer A, as shown in'gFig. 1",`said`device D bemg'rotated continuously by means of a belt 11 that surrounds al pulley on-the shaft of the device D. 'llhe chute 12 is providedwith a cut-oli' valve- 13, and whenever one of the buckets or carriers 1 ofthe conveyer passes under said chute the' valve 13 is operatedso as to permit the batch-0f splints in the chute to drop downwardly into said bucket. ln the apparatus hereinshown the cut-olf valve 13 is carried-by arms 14 which are pivotally connected to the chute 12, and one of said arms is provided with an extension 15, which is so arranged that when the cut-oil valve 13 is closed said extensionwil'llie .in sucha position that it will be struck by the upper end of one arm 7 ofthe-bucket 1 whicrhis just about to ass under the chute 12, there,-

by causing't e valve 13 to be raisedror roo its

'i will be discharged into the bucket 1 when said bucket asses under the chute.- When the bucket t at has' just been filled passes beyond the chute, the cut-oitl valve 13 moves automatically back into position to close the.

chute.

-The conveyer Al travels the direction indicated by the arrows a; in Fig. 1 so as to cause the buckets 1 to enter the tank im. f mediately after the splints have been 1ntro duced into said buckets, the tank 2 being of suicient length to cause the splints to become thoroughly im re nated with the tion in the tank whi e t ey are being carried through said solution. 'After the buckets 1 move upwardly out of the tank, the solution drains out of the buckets back into'the tank while the ,buckets are traveling to the point Awhere the splints are removed from the buckets. In order to prevent the splints from iioating out of the buckets or carriers 1 while said carriers are traveling through thesolution in the tank 2, I have equipped said tank with a stationar member 16 arranged in such a position t at the buckets 2 will pass under same and slide along the under side of said memberwhile they are traveling v-longitudinally through the tank 2, the opposite ends of the member 16 being curved upwardly ad'acent the ends of the tank, and said mem er being so arranged with relation to the tracks 8 on which the chains 3 of the conveyer A travel that itwill bearupon the upper edges of the buckets 1 while said buckets are traveling through the solution in the tank 2. The conveyer A is long enough so that most of the solution will drain out of the buckets 1 before the buckets reach the point where the splints are removed from same, but in order to insure the removal of any solution that failsto .drain out of the buckets I have provided the apparatus with a suction pipe 17 arranged in such a manner that the buckets 1 will pass over the upper end of same before said .buckets reach the point where the splints, are removed therefrom, said suction` pipe 17 leading into a tank 18 from which the air isexhausted by means of afan 19, as shown .in Fig. 2. The solution that is extracted from the buckets and from the splints in the buckets by means of the suction in the pipe 17, flows through said pipe into the tank 18, and when the solutionin saidtank` 18 rises above acertain level it flows back into the At afpont between the suction pipe 17 disposed flaps or cover plates 24 and 25 arel connected to the lowerend of the pipe 21 so as to bear'upon the front and rear edges of the bucket 1`that alines with the lower end of the pipe 21 and thus completely close the upper end of the bucket so that the suction in said pipe will be exerted on the splints in the bucket. As soon as a bucket passes under the lower end of the pipe 21 the suction in said pipe causes the splints in the bucket to be drawn upwardly out of the bucket into the chamber 22. The splints are wet and consequently adhere to each other when they are removed from the buckets, and in order to separate the splints before they enter the pipe 23 that leads to the'machine in which the splints are to be dried or treated further,

I have arranged a rotatable screen 26 in thel chamber 22, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, so as to tumble and agitate the splints that enter the chamber 22 through the pipe 21, said screen 26 being provided witha pulley 27 that coperates with a drive belt, not shown. In view of the fact that the mass of splints in the buckets 1 do not always lie below or flush with the upper vedges of the buckets, I have mounted the flaps or cover plates 24 and 25 in such a manner that they canl swing upwardly suiiciently to permit the buckets to pass under same in case the splints project upwardly above the upper edges of the buckets, the plate 24 being pivotally connected at 24a to the lower end of the pipe 21 and the plate 25 being pivotally connected at to the upper track 8 and provided at its free end with an upwardly projectlng iiange25b that normally closes a slot or cut-out portion in the lower end of the pipe 2,1.

With `an apparatus of the construction above-described, the splints or articles to be treated are drawn from the source of supply into the vacuum chamber C, the splints being prevented from escaping fromA said chamber through the suction pipe 10 v by out of the buckets 1, said )and the chute. 12 through which the splints means of the screen-10a shown in Fig. 5.

liach bucket that travels under the chute l2 receives a batch of splints, and while the buckets are traveling thro-ugh the tank 2 the splints are prevented from escaping from the buckets by means of the stationary member 16 that extends longitudinally of the tank 2. The, perforated bottoms of ,the buckets permit the Solution to drain out of the buckets as soon as the buckets move upwardly out of the tank 2, and'vvhen the buckets pass over the suction-pipe ll' any solution which remains in the buckets or on the splints in the buckets is sucked into the tank 18 bythe suction in the pipe 17. rlhereafter, When the ybuckets travel past the lower end of the pipe 21, the splints are sucked upwardly out of the buckets and are delivered into the rotatable screen 26 in the chamber 23, the movement of said screen tumbling and agitating the splints sutilciently to separate the splints that stick together before the splints pass through the meshes of said screen and enter the suction pipe 23 that leads to the point Where the splints are to be used or treated.

Having thusdescribed my invention, what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is :l

l. An impregnating apparatus comprising a conveyer; a tank containing a solution through which said conveyerI travels, means tor introducing the articles to be impregnated into said conveyer, pneumatic means for removing the impregnated articles from the conveyer, and means for agitating the articles after they have been removed from the conveyer so as to separate the articles that stick tol each other. i

Q. An impregnating apparatus comprising an endless conveyer, a tank containing a solution through which said conveyer tra-vels, a vacuum chamber into which the ar- I ticles to be treated, are drawn from a source at supply, means for discharging batches ot articles from said vacuum chamber intermittently into said conveyer, a suctionpipe arranged in the path of travel of the conveyer' for removing the articles from the conveyer' after they have been impregnated, and means for agitating the articles that pass through said suction-pipe so as to separate those that stick to each other.

3. An impregnating apparatus comprising an endless conveyer provided With car- ,riers or buckets having perforated bottoms,

a tank containing a solution through Which said buckets travel, means for introducing a batch of the articles to be treated into each bucket of the conveyer Whenit passes a certain point, and pneumatic means for removing the impregnated articles from said buckets at a certain point in the path of travel of the conveyer.

4. An impregnating apparatus comprising an endless conveyer provided with carriers or buckets havingperforated bottoms, a tank containingV a solution through which said buckets travel, means for introducing a batch of the articles to be treated into each bucket of the conveyer lwhen it passes a cer- 4tain point, a suction-pipe whose open end is' presented to the perforated bottoms of said buckets after they leave said tank so as to remove the solution' which :tails to drain oil" of the articles in the buckets, pneumatic means for removing the impregnated articles from the buckets at a certain point in the path of travel of the conveyer, and means for agitating the articles so as to separate those that stick to each other.`

5. An impregnating apparatus comprising an endless conveyer' provided with carriers or buckets having perforated bottoms, a tank containing a solution through which said buckets travel,` a feed-chute provided with a cut-oil valve, means for delivering the articles to be treated into said feed-chute, means for opening said cut-oft valve auto-y matically Whenever a bucket comes into alinement With the feed-chute so that a batch of the articles to be treated can enter the bucket, and a suction-pipe ttor sucking the impregnated articles `out of the buckets and delivering them to the point Where the arl ticles are to be used or further treated.

6. An impregnating apparatus comprising a. conveyer, a tank containing a solution through Which said conveyer travels, means for delivering the articles to be treated to said conveyer, a suction-pipe for removing the articles from said conveyer at a certain pointin the path ot travel of the conveyer, and a rotatable screen into which the articles are discharged from said suction-pipe.

7. An impregnating apparatus comprising an endless conveyer provided with buckets which have perforated bottoms, a tank containing a solution through which said buckets travel, means tor delivering matchsplints or similar articles to said buckets, a stationary member arranged in such a position that it Will 'form a closure for the buckets While they are submerged in the solution in said tank and will thus prevent the splints from escaping from the buckets, and pneumatic means for sucking the splints out of the buckets at a certain point in the path of travel of the conveyer. y

8. An impregnating apparatus comprising an endless conveyer provided with buckets having perforated bottoms, a tank containing a solution through which said buckets trave-l, means for iilling the buckets with the articles to be impregnated when said buckets pass a certain point, a suction-pipe having its open end presented to the bottoms of said buckets so as to remove the s0- lution that fails to drain from the buckets and the articles therein after the buckets have left said tank, and means for collecting the solution from said suction-pipe and delivering it back into said tank.

9. An mpregnating apparatus comprising a vacuum chamber vinto which thearticles to be treated are drawn from a source of supply, a rotatable device for discharging batches of the articles from said vacuum chamber intermittently, a chute for receiving the articles that are discharged from said chamber, an endless conveyer having buckets that travel under said chute, means for controlling the passage of the articles from said chute into said buckets, a tank containing asolution through which said buckets travel, a suction-pipe for removing the impregnated articles from said buckets,

said suction-pipe having movable flaps that bear upon the upper edge of the bucket Which alines with said pipe and thus cause the suction in said pipe t0 be exerted on the articles in the bucket, and means for agitating the articles after they are removed from the bucket so as to separate the articles that stick together. l

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses, tnis 14th day of July 1913.

BERNARD GEORGE YAUGHAN.

Vitnesses HENRY LESER, LEO MICHAEL HERKERT. 

